


Bloody Innocent

by lesbianmxgicians (kaianieves)



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, The Magicians AU Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 10:06:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20487128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaianieves/pseuds/lesbianmxgicians
Summary: Kady Orloff-Diaz was a bartender in a grimy, washed out bar in Brooklyn. A high school graduate, with honours, not that university had been in her future anywhere.She was a lot of things. But she wasn’t a murderer.“Alice, what did you do?!”Tears welled in Alice’s eyes. Her hands were covered in crimson, clothes splattered with it. “I’m sorry, Kady. I’m sorry."But the woman she loved was.





	Bloody Innocent

**Author's Note:**

> For day two of The Magicians AU Week: Crime AUs. Heavily HTGAWM-inspired.

Kady Orloff-Diaz was a bartender in a grimy, washed out bar in Brooklyn. A high school graduate, with honours, not that university had been in her future anywhere.

She was a lot of things. But she wasn’t a murderer. 

The woman across from her had a calm but firm voice, her brown hair pinned back in a tight bun. Her charcoal suit jacket moved as she walked into the interrogation room and sat down in the metal chair on the other side of the bulky metal table. Kady wasn’t in cuffs, which was always a good thing. A jumping off point of sorts, to get herself the fuck out of here.

The cops had caught up with her when she was getting home from work. It was late, meaning she was irritable. No one wanted to be taken into police custody, but they especially didn’t want to be taken into police custody at three in the morning after a long shift working at a dive bar. In New York.

“Hi, Ms. Orloff- Diaz. I’m Detective Montez, with the NYPD. Do you know why we brought you down here tonight?” she’d asked.

Kady shrugged, face clearly portraying lazy irritation. “No clue,” she said. Detective Montez let the moment drag out for a second. “Are you going to tell me, or…”

“We think that you might have some information on a recent homicide,” the detective said. Kady couldn’t help her eyebrows flying up, her back straightening as the words settled on her. A homicide. Someone was dead- and they thought she had something to do with it. Or at least, that she knew something. “A patron to your workplace- The Rusty Dog, downtown, was found early this morning. A Mr. Riley Casablancas.”

“Did he drink himself to death at my  _ place of work,”  _ Kady said, an edge in her voice.

Detective Montez pursed her lips for a moment before speaking again. “He was found in an abandoned warehouse frequented by vagrants; disemboweled with his throat slashed.”

Kady winced, imagining it in her mind. She did know Riley Casablancas- he was a regular, who’d taken a liking to her. It was the usual: some loser tries to pick up the female bartender, he drinks their regularly so it becomes a regular thing. It could have warranted a harassment charge, but he was never too pushy. And he drank a lot, always paid his tab, so Kady wasn’t complaining. Picturing his puffy face, pale and splattered with blood made her stomach churn.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “You can see why we’re taking this seriously, I hope,” Montez said. “Do you know if Mr. Casablancas came into your bar last night?”

“He’s a regular. You can find him boozing himself up almost every night,” Kady said.

“And when he’s there, drinking, he spends a lot of time around you, right?” There was an implication hurdling straight towards Kady like a bullet.

“If you’re asking if I killed him-”

“I’m not asking if you killed him, Kady. I’m pretty sure you didn’t. But I think you might know something that can tell us who did,” Montez said.

Kady sighed. “Yeah. When he’s at The Dog, you can usually find him around me. He likes me, tried to ask me out a few times.” The detective was watching her with a look she didn’t quite understand. It was… attentive. “It’s nothing new. Happens all the time,” she said casually.

“So you would say that patrons like Mr. Casablancas hitting on you or other female staff is common at The Rusty Dog?”

“I mean, if there’s a problem, the manager deals with it. But Riley was just another… lonely soul in a sea of ‘em. And tequila,” she said.

Detective Montez nodded. “And do you have a boyfriend, Ms. Orloff-Diaz? Someone else who may not have thought of Mr. Casablancas as so harmless?”

Shit. Penny. But they weren’t dating. It was a… hooking up situation. Whenever she’d told him about her bartending stories- including the ones about Riley- he’d laughed along with her. So, Kady answered, “No.”

Montez nodded. “And are you aware of any enemies that Mr. Casablancas might have had? Maybe another bar-goer that he’d gotten into an argument with?”

“Riley didn’t pay much attention to anyone he’d get into a  _ fight  _ with,” Kady said.

“So he ignored other men at the bar?”

“He showered his attention on women he was interested in. Sometimes- a lot of the time, they didn’t reciprocate.” Kady played with the ring around her middle finger. “Maybe you should be asking them about their boyfriends.”

The detective’s face didn’t change, but something in her eyes did. She stood again, chair scraping the tile as it moved across the floor behind her. “I think that’s all I need. For now. Thank you, Ms. Orloff-Diaz. You’re free to go.”

Kady stood then as well, walking away from the table towards the door. Walking out of a police station always felt like there were a million eyes on her, waiting for her to slip up and do something that counted as an arrestable offense. She was certain she could feel Detective Montez’s eyes borrowing into the back of her head as she left.

Outside, it was dark. The street was well lit in front of the station. Kady stood under a light, its orange glow beaming down on her. From her jacket pocket she pulled out her phone, scrolling quickly through her contacts. Pressing one, she held the phone up to her ear.

It felt like someone was peeling back the skin of her arms as the phone rang. Finally, someone picked up. “Alice,” Kady said. “I need a ride.”

“Where are you?” For it being three in the morning, the woman didn’t sound tired at all.

“The police station. They picked me up and took me in for questioning.” Silence on the other end. “Alice. They know.”  
  


The silver car, wet with rain, pulled up to the curb twenty minutes later. The door was open before Kady even reached for the handle. She ducked, getting in the front passenger seat. Alice sat beside her, hands gripping the wheel tightly. Her knuckles were turning white as she turned it, pulling away from the curb.

Neither of them spoke for a minute, until they hit a light. “Are you sure?” Alice asked. “Are you sure they know?”

“They asked me about a jealous boyfriend. They know,” Kady confirmed.

“Shit,” Alice muttered. “We need to call Penny.”

“I am  _ not  _ getting him involved in this. You already know what he’d do.”

Alice responded with silence. Then, “So what are we supposed to do? We can’t wait it out until they find everything.”

Kady wasn’t a murderer. But the woman she loved was.

“Don’t worry about it, okay? I’m gonna’ figure everything out.”

“It’s a little hard not to worry about it when we could go to  _ jail,”  _ Alice spat out harshly. She pulled the car into a wide alleyway, low brick buildings hiding them from other cars. Time felt like it went still. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m just- on edge.”

Kady shifted in her seat, turning to face Alice directly. She grabbed Alice’s hand off of the stick shift, holding it between her own. “I’m going to fix this, okay?  _ We will be alright.  _ I promise.” Alice nodded, lips parting slightly. Kady moved in for the kiss. It was warm and sharp, ending moments after it began. Then she unbuckled her seat belt. “If you need anything, call me alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alice said absently. Her hands smoothed over the leather of the steering wheel again.

“Alice,” Kady said, standing outside the car now. “I love you.” She didn’t give the other woman time to respond, shutting the door.

Alice watched her pass behind the car onto the sidewalk, disappearing around the corner. She pulled the gear into reverse, staring at her hands. She hadn’t been able to sleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, all Alice saw was blood. So much blood. As she stared down at her hands with them wide open, she could start to see it fading into view there, too.

_ 4:46 A.M. October 7th, 2019 - three days earlier _

“Oh my fucking god!” Kady’s voice carried throughout the empty warehouse. There was blood. So much blood. “Alice, what did you do?!”

Tears welled in Alice’s eyes. Her hands were covered in crimson, clothes splattered with it. “I’m sorry, Kady. I’m sorry." Her face resembled shattered porcelain, her eyes wide as she stared at the body near her feet. Quickly, the sobs came. Alice moved towards Kady, wrapping her arms around the other woman’s middle. Her sobs came in waves against Kady’s jacket as the Kady limply held Alice, eyes staring on in horror over Alice’s shoulder at what she saw in front of her.


End file.
